Journaling for Stress Relief: Where to Start

Journaling doesn't have to mean writing beautifully, or even writing much at all. At its simplest, it's just getting what's in your head onto a page so it isn't just circling endlessly.

Three ways to start

• Brain dump — set a timer for 5 minutes and write whatever comes to mind, without stopping to correct it or make it make sense.
• Three good things — each evening, note three small things that went okay that day, even tiny ones.
• Worry list — if your mind is racing at night, write down each worry as a short bullet point. Getting it out of your head and onto paper can make it easier to let go of, at least until morning.

There's no right or wrong way to do this. Some people prefer a few lines a day; others write pages. What matters is that it's honest, and that it's just for you — no one else needs to read it.

Try this: Keep a notebook somewhere you'll actually see it — by your bed or in your bag — rather than somewhere it'll be forgotten.

If writing feels hard

Some days even a sentence is a lot, and that's fine. You could also try our mood tracker, which gives you a simple one-tap way to log how you're feeling on the days when writing more isn't possible.